County postpones trailhead decision

OROVILLE  The Okanogan County commissioners have postponed further decisions on the details of selling nearly 100 acres of land near Whistler Canyon until their Oct. 7 meeting.

Meanwhile, a Facebook page called “Save Whistler Canyon Trailhead” has been created and had 129 “likes” as of Monday afternoon. The page’s goal is to galvanize people to raise enough money to purchase the land, in order to secure permanent public access to the trails, or convince the county not to sell it in the hopes that the U.S. Bureau of Land Management will follow through on its plan to purchase.

“There was a different tone in the meeting,” Tonasket resident James Moore said of the most recent hearing on Sept. 23. He said the commissioners were more “conciliatory” than before, when he and others came away feeling as though the county had already made up its mind before the hearing.

Moore, along with Havillah resident Mark Morris and others who often use the Whistler Canyon trailhead off U.S. Highway 97, have been asking commissioners for permanent easements to access the trailhead and extending trails. The land is set to be auctioned off in December.